1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a refuse collecting vehicle for collecting and transporting separated waste materials, the vehicle being specifically adapted for separating and transporting recyclable materials such as glass, paper and plastic of the type present in domestic refuse.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The recovery of recyclable materials such as paper, plastic and glass from domestic refuse is of increasing concern at the present time. The public is increasingly concerned with the necessity of conserving natural resources and energy. This concern is heightened by the problem of solid waste disposal which has been brought to the public attention in a number of dramatic fashions in recent years.
Although many home owners are concerned with the problem of solid waste disposal and with the depletion of natural resources there is, at the present time, no convenient and economically feasible solution to the problem at hand. Recyclable materials such as papers, plastic and glass are only economically reusable if separated from domestic refuse by suitable sorting and collection techniques. Best results have been achieved in residential areas with a predominant number of single or two-family buildings, i.e., detached and semi-detached house buildings. This type of collection is burdened, however, by high cost, since relatively few buildings are accessed within a given collection distance Although many neighborhood associations have attempted to provide recycling services, these efforts have often required volunteer effort to collect and transport the separated waste materials in private vehicles. The availability of a specially adapted collection vehicle would undoubtedly increase private sector participation in recycling efforts.
One proposed solution to the problem has been a specially constructed trailer having separate waste compartments which open from the side, the trailer being towed behind a conventional refuse collection vehicle. However, the separate trailer compartments were capable of only holding a limited volume of recyclable materials and did not provide a mechanical packer, making such an arrangement impractical for most applications
U.S. Pat. No. 2,914,205 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,113,125 both show compartmented refuse collecting vehicles in which the vehicle body has separate collecting chambers for receiving separated recyclable materials However, in both cases, the tailgate section of the vehicle was a unitary member, requiring the use of removeable partitions or other awkward and expensive baffle arrangements for directing the separated recyclable materials into the intended compartments within the vehicle body.
The present invention has as its object to provide a vehicle and method for collecting domestic refuse, allowing separation of the waste materials into separate and distinct recyclable categories and for transporting such recyclable materials to a remote collection point without greatly increasing the labor cost, working time, or expense of the collection operation.
Another object of the invention is to provide such a vehicle having a tailgate section with a plurality of distinct and individually actuable hopper units for transferring separable materials to the vehicle body.
Another object of the invention is to provide a refuse collecting vehicle having a storage body with a plurality of distinct storage chambers for receiving separated refuse materials from the distinct and individually actuable hopper units for transporting the refuse materials to a remote collection site.
Another object of the invention is to provide the distinct storage chambers with individual ejector means for selectively discharging material from each of the distinct storage chambers of the storage body.